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Investment Red-Flags Checklist
Printable one-pager · Pakistan edition · maahir.io cheat sheets
MAAHIR
CHEAT SHEET
🚩 20 red flags — tick every box that is TRUE about the offer
Promises
- "Guaranteed" profit or fixed monthly return (e.g. "5% every month, no risk")
- "Double your money in X days" style offers
- Returns far above bank profit rates / National Savings "with no risk"
- Profit paid from new members' money (not any visible business)
Pressure
- "Last date today" / "only 5 seats left" urgency
- Recruiting friends/family gives you commission
- You are told to keep it secret ("insider opportunity")
People & papers
- No SECP registration, or registration number cannot be verified
- No written agreement, only WhatsApp messages
- Payments asked in a personal JazzCash/EasyPaisa/bank account
- "Company" address is a virtual office or cannot be visited
- Famous person's photo/video used in ads without proof
✅ Before you invest — safe steps
- Verify SECP registration: search the company name on SECP's official company search (secp.gov.pk)
- Ask for the licence that allows them to take public money — and verify it with the regulator
- Visit the office in person; meet the people behind the scheme
- Get everything in writing: amount, return formula, duration, exit terms, signatures
- Only invest an amount you can afford to lose completely
- Compare with regulated options first: scheduled banks, National Savings, SBP-regulated funds
- Sleep on it 48 hours — real investments do not disappear overnight
🆘 Already paid?
- Stop further payments immediately — do not "top up to qualify for withdrawal".
- Screenshot everything: ads, chats, receipts, CNIC of the person, account numbers.
- Report to NCCIA (see the NCCIA Complaint Steps sheet) and your bank/JazzCash/EasyPaisa helpline same day.
- Warn your group — silence lets the scam trap more people.
Rule of thumb: if profit is guaranteed, your money is guaranteed to be at risk. Higher return always means higher risk — anyone saying otherwise is selling you a story.